PA and WNY Sportsmans' Big Game Trophies

Monday, November 19, 2012

HARRISBURG
– The Pennsylvania Game Commission today announced an update to the “PA
State Game Lands” app, which can be downloaded for most mobile devices
through links on the Game Commission’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us).“Using
a smartphone or tablet’s built-in navigation features, this app
provides turn-by-turn directions to destinations you select and includes
destination-specific details such as WMU, county, acreage, hunting
zones, hunting hours, 2012-13 seasons and bag limits and more,” said
Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director. The
app has built-in mapping capabilities allowing you to browse State Game
Land boundaries, parking areas and shooting ranges displayed over your
choice of USGS 7.5 minute topographic maps, satellite imagery or road
maps. No cellular service where you’re headed? Cache maps on your device
for use offline.Simple
menus allow users to search for State Game Lands by the State Game Land
number, Wildlife Management Unit or by which SGL is the closest to your
present location. All results appear in distance order, allowing the
user to find the nearest State Game Lands access no matter where you
are. Looking
for State Game Lands beyond your current location? Just enter any
Pennsylvania city into the search criteria to plan your next adventure.
Then save your favorite destinations for future use.The app also allows you to find and navigate to Game Commission facilities and shooting ranges.Use
the “Report Your Harvest” feature to phone in or input harvests and
follow turn-by-turn directions to bear and elk check stations.“This
update includes significant enhancements, including many that users
have requested,” Roe said. Users can now store maps on their device for
navigating with or without cellular service. Other improvements include
7.5 minute USGS topographic maps, State Game Lands boundaries, new
search enhancements to find destinations using maps, fast links to
report violations and access a Hunting Hours table and the Game
Commission’s mobile website.The app was developed by Gogal Publishing, of Warrington, Bucks County, and sells for $9.99 (plus tax).Primarily
purchased with hunter/furtaker license dollars, there are 1.4 million
acres of State Game Lands, spread out over 65 of our 67 counties –
Philadelphia and Delaware counties being the two exceptions. These
lands are managed by the Game Commission for wildlife and to serve as
public hunting and trapping areas. If the more than 300 numbered blocks
of State Game Lands were all pulled together, the land mass would
comprise an area larger than the state of Delaware.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

HARRISBURG
– Pennsylvania Game Commission officials today announced that 52 elk
were harvested by the 65 hunters awarded elk licenses for the recently
concluded 2012 elk hunt, which was held Nov. 5-10. Of that total, 18
were antlered and 34 were antlerless. The
heaviest antlered elk was taken by Richard Tratthen, Jr., of Scott
Township, Lackawanna County. He took a 840-pound (estimated live
weight), 8x8 on Nov. 7, in Jay Township, Elk County.Other
large antlered elk (all estimated live weights) were: Robin Carleton of
Mansfield, Tioga County, took a 775-pound 7x7 on Nov. 7 in Covington
Township, Clearfield County; Roger Rummel of Nanty Glo, Cambria County,
took a 758-pound, 7x7 on Nov. 8, in Covington Township, Clearfield
County; Charles Ulrich of Allenwood, Union County, took a 729-pound 7x7
on Nov. 5 in Karthus Township, Clearfield County; and Charles Cahill,
Jr., of Upper Darby, Delaware County, took a 720-pound 6x6 on Nov. 7 in
Covington Township, Clearfield County. The
heaviest antlerless elk was taken by Sylvester Kronenwetter of Saint
Marys, Elk County. He took an antlerless elk that weighed 616 pounds on
Nov. 9 in Huston Township in Clearfield County. Those
hunters rounding out the top five heaviest antlerless elk harvested
were: Barry Rhoad of Fredericksburg, Lebanon County, 551-pound elk in
Gibson Township, Cameron County, on Nov. 7; Terry McLaughlin of
Greensburg, Westmoreland County, 549-pound elk on Nov 9, in Benezette
Township, Elk County; Ed Roupe of East Fairfield, Vermont, 538-pound elk
in West Keating Township, Clinton County, on Nov. 7; and Frank Webster
of Greencastle, Franklin County, 520-pound elk in Benezette Township,
Elk County on Nov. 7.“Since
2001, when the first modern-day elk season was instituted, 523 elk have
been harvested,” said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director.
“In 2013, the Game Commission will be celebrating the 100th anniversary
of the elk restoration project. Watch future issues of Game News and the
agency website for more highlights on this major conservation
milestone.”As
has been the case every year, agency biologists extracted samples
needed for chronic wasting disease (CWD) testing, and results are
expected early next year.

For
more information on elk in Pennsylvania, visit the Game Commission’s
website: www.pgc.state.pa.us , put your cursor over “HUNT/TRAP” in the menu bar in the banner,
choose “Hunting,” and then click on “Elk” in the listing under “Big
Game.”